1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a peripheral unit management system, a method and a program recording medium therefore, wherein a management system and a plurality of peripheral units are mutually connected via a local area network (LAN), the peripheral units being connected to the LAN with their respective LAN cards having a connecting function to the LAN, and the system can continually reuse previously accumulated data in the peripheral units before replacement of the LAN cards when only the LAN cards of the peripheral units have been replaced but the main bodies of the peripheral units have not been replaced.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a Mac address is used for distinguishing a unit connected to a LAN from other units connected to the LAN. The MAC address is unique data assigned to each unit connected to the LAN, thus each unit is required to have a MAC address. Since the Mac address is easy to handle, there are many systems connected to a LAN for managing a plurality of peripheral units, for example printers, wherein the MAC addresses are used as identifiers of the peripheral units, and data stored in the peripheral units are managed by the systems.
In normal use, when a system manages a plurality of printers, there are no problems in managing the printers with the use of the MAC addresses. However, when only a LAN card of one of the printers, which is inserted into the printer, has been replaced but a main body of the printer has not been replaced, the corresponding MAC address has also been changed because a MAC address having unique data has been set to the LAN card for distinguishing the card from other cards. Thus, the management system judges the printer to be another printer since the printer communicates with the management system via the newly replaced LAN card. As a result, when the system manages accumulated data such as articles of consumption, the number of printed sheets and the like, of the printer of which LAN card has been replaced, it becomes difficult to reuse data being accumulated in the printer before replacement of the LAN card.